Dream sets spiritual transformation in motion.Byline: FROM HEART TO HEART By Jon West For The Register-Guard Spiritual transformation happens! But my path to the ministry wasn't completely innocent. While a sophomore at the University of Oregon The University of Oregon is a public university located in Eugene, Oregon. The university was founded in 1876, graduating its first class two years later. The University of Oregon is one of 60 members of the Association of American Universities. , I pursued a young woman who threw me this curve: `I just can't date a nonbeliever!' Atheism atheism (ā`thē-ĭz'əm), denial of the existence of God or gods and of any supernatural existence, to be distinguished from agnosticism, which holds that the existence cannot be proved. was my philosophical rock. As I wrote years later in a song, "I was 10 when I gave up on God, 'cause I'd heard that word a lot, but I saw no sign of him. And all these grown-ups, lookin' their Sunday best, then goin' back home to their dark secrets, well it made me doubt. But we are all God's children, I found out." Devoted to my atheistic a·the·is·tic also a·the·is·ti·cal adj. 1. Relating to or characteristic of atheism or atheists. 2. Inclined to atheism. a principles, I was determined to charm the young lady helpless while avoiding religious discussions. Then one day I casually mentioned a recent dream ... and casually exploded my world. In the dream, I'm with a gathering on the beach at sunset. We're singing strange, monotonous tones. Serenity is tangible, like warm honey in my chest Something draws me into the ocean. Climbing on a rock, I gaze skyward sky·ward adv. & adj. At or toward the sky. sky  wards adv. . Clouds part. Dazzling light streams down. Ecstatic
joy surges through me. I'm smiling so hard my face aches. Grasping
for an explanation, I think, "It must be aliens!"
Flash to the next morning - same beach, an oppressive gray fog enveloping en·vel·op tr.v. en·vel·oped, en·vel·op·ing, en·vel·ops 1. To enclose or encase completely with or as if with a covering: "Accompanying the darkness, a stillness envelops the city" all. I wander blindly, others passing dimly like ghosts. "Earth has been destroyed," I realize, "and I'm trapped in nothingness noth·ing·ness n. 1. The condition or quality of being nothing; nonexistence. 2. Empty space; a void. 3. Lack of consequence; insignificance. 4. Something inconsequential or insignificant. ." I fall on cold sand, weeping. I ended my dream-story with a shrug. My several listeners gawked. "It's a message!" "It's a choice!" Hmm. In one dream came my highest and lowest moments ever. The low, I realized, summarized my world view. And that incredible high was ... what? Searching sacred writings of various faiths, I found a record of spiritual awakening far richer than the "I believe in God, don't you?" variety of my peers. Wading deeper, I tried prayer - with startling star·tle v. star·tled, star·tling, star·tles v.tr. 1. To cause to make a quick involuntary movement or start. 2. To alarm, frighten, or surprise suddenly. See Synonyms at frighten. results. Already, my budding belief had won me a girlfriend! Yet I was seeking not a belief, but the transformation glimpsed in my dream. Studying people such as Churchill and Gandhi reinforced my conclusion: Only unveiling our inner divinity can lift the fog of "quiet desperation" described by Thoreau. When my college romance crumbled, I was finally ready - ready to give myself to transformation, ready for meditation. Here was my foundation practice, the rock on which I began steadying my gaze on God's Light within. Now appears my perfect soul-partner. We marry, and begin writing and performing spiritual music. By 2002, we're ministering at a small church in Florence, and then a Wednesday evening service in Eugene. We teach not formalized for·mal·ize tr.v. for·mal·ized, for·mal·iz·ing, for·mal·iz·es 1. To give a definite form or shape to. 2. a. To make formal. b. or popular religion, but the universal spirituality expressed by awakened souls everywhere. Twenty years TWENTY YEARS. The lapse of twenty years raises a presumption of certain facts, and after such a time, the party against whom the presumption has been raised, will be required to prove a negative to establish his rights. 2. after my dream, this might be the year I find myself at a gathering on the beach, chanting words and tones to open the heart and mind. But already, serenity fills me like warm honey. The rock is solid beneath my feet. And my God, my God - the clouds are parting. The Rev. Jon West is spiritual director of Unity Church in Florence. West and his wife, Donna O'Neil, recently founded The SoulCenter, which offers an interfaith service each Wednesday at the Hilyard Community Center. This column is coordinated by the Two Rivers Two Rivers, city (1990 pop. 13,030), Manitowoc co., E Wis., on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Twin River; inc. 1878. Two Rivers is closely associated with its twin city, Manitowoc, both of which are highly industrialized. Interfaith Ministries, a network of faith communities in the Eugene-Springfield area. For more information, call 344-5693. |
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